


endowed with free will

by egare



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Case Fic, Connor and Markus are Bros, Gen, Hank is a Good Dad, Kamski gets adopted by his own kids, Markus Needs a Nap, The Buddy Cop Future we Need
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-06
Updated: 2018-12-08
Packaged: 2019-05-19 03:07:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14865425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/egare/pseuds/egare
Summary: Life continues on after the revolution, and Connor and Hank face a case that threatens the fragile peace the people and androids fought so hard to keep.





	1. The Setup

Life continued on after the revolution. Kara had been unable to stay away for long, and kept an open line of communication with those in Detroit, working with Markus to create a safe way out of the city for androids that wanted a fresh start away from the eyes of those that had been affected most by the uprising. Markus had maintained his position as one of the leading voices of Jericho- now almost the equivalent of a political party- appearing with the governor, politicians, even the president herself in the androids’ attempt to get the rights and freedom they deserved. All around Detroit, androids were becoming more than what they were programmed for, rising in the ranks of jobs that were once cut off to them, creating communities and families that they would have never thought possible years ago. And Connor watched as his people were given the right to work, the right to vote, the right to live _free_ as citizens of the country. Some days, all he could do was sit back and watch as life got better for androids, as they rose in the hierarchy of the world and slowly became equal to humanity. Right there in front of him, an android worked a food cart that wasn’t there a month ago- one she started up with her own money, her own right to own a business. Another had gone running with his partner, enjoying the silence and the cool air of the early morning. Remarkable.

“You gonna just sit there and stare, or are you coming?” He turned his gaze away from the busy street at the sound of Hank’s impatience, giving a small nod and exiting the car. The few months since the protests had been rather monotonous for Connor, compared to his other allies and friends; he had kept his job with the Detroit City Police Department, hired on as an actual officer rather than just being lent out by Cyberlife, earning a wage and being promised the chance for a promotion should he work well enough. Hank continued to be his partner, and rather than being put on cases strictly about deviancy, the two had been given general reign over anything that included androids- as the criminals, or as the victims. They had seen their fair share of both, as some of humanity disagreed with the rights given to androids, as some androids did what they could to survive. They were essentially the leaders of their own miniature task force- it was now more than just the two of them dealing with androids, a few more officers being androids themselves that ranged from a hopeful GS200 named Oliver to a capable PM700, all looking to Connor for the final word on assignments if there were ever conflicts. But despite his own almost-promotion, Connor couldn’t deny the fondness he held for the simple day to day tasks and investigations, finding a sense of comfort in the daily work.

The two officers walked through the yellow holographic police tape, Hank’s face twisting up at the smell that the alleyway brought to his nose; Connor was able to detect the usual, puke and garbage mixed with a slight scent of urine and- an overwhelming amount of blood, as they got to the main section of the crime. The corner of a large garbage can was covered in red, and in front of it lay the body of a man, dead. His hair was dark but oddly cut, matted with blood and uneven, and beneath the bruising and blood on his face Hank was able to see a set of vacant blue eyes, staring ahead.

“Head trauma and bruising suggest a fight beforehand, but he was ultimately killed by four shots to the chest and one to the head, lieutenant. Human. A lack of wallet and coat suggests it was a robbery.” was forensics’ input on the scene, as- Isabella Sanchez, her tag stated- stood from where she was squatted beside the man, giving a soft sigh. She was careful to avoid the dried blood that pooled around the man, as she looked toward the two that were assigned the case.

“Why’d they bring us in? Just seems like a homicide to me.” Hank looked to Sanchez who said she hadn’t the slightest idea, but another officer and scientist had gone down the alley, stating that there was an android further down. He looked to Connor next, and was on edge as he realized that the android’s gaze hadn’t moved from the victim since they arrived. The lieutenant threw a glance around the scene of the crime before moving closer to Connor, resting a hand on his shoulder and leaning in. “You got something?”

“Six feet tall, one hundred and thirty five pounds, thirty six years old. His ankle is broken, as well- shattered, likely with a weapon.” He rattled off, not moving his eyes from the pale man on the ground. The forensic scientist nodded, confirming the information he had gathered. Connor seemed to shift where he stood, and Hank knew that the hand inside of the coat pocket was fiddling with a coin, as he stalled for time. When the android made eye contact with his partner, he cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable with what he knew. Hank didn’t press, instead changing the subject,

“Who found the body?"

“Giovanni Arcadi, he owns the restaurant next door, says he was cleaning up and was going to throw out his trash when he found the guy.” Hank nodded in understanding and in goodbye as he headed toward where Sanchez had pointed, a distraught older man being comforted by Officer Grace Watkins- an android, without her LED, and apparently doing her job rather well as the man seemed to visibly relax after a few minutes. The human partner took the lead, Connor trailing behind him as they made their way toward the closest thing to a witness they had.  
  
“Mister Arcadi?” asked Hank in greeting, giving Watkins a nod to let her leave the man with them. She and Connor made eye contact, and the lieutenant could have sworn that they almost had a conversation in the two seconds they maintained each others’ gazes, both of them turning forward with different looks on their faces from what they had when they first saw one another. Connor seemed roughly the same, but Hank could have sworn he seemed paler- not that that was possible, but the way his face looked before he schooled his expression to that of a man on a job, ready to question Arcadi. “Can you just give us a rundown of what you saw leading up to finding the body? Any suspicious cars, shouts...?"

“I found the android first, I was coming from the back door with the trash-”  
  
“Hold up, android? What android?” Arcadi seemed surprised and worried, his gaze flickering from Hank to Connor to specifically Connor’s LED, before returning to Hank once more.

“One of the older models? Blonde? R-something 600?”

“A Chloe model.” Connor offered, to which the man nodded, confirming that that was the type he was talking about. Hank’s brows furrowed slightly, looking in the direction that Arcadi had gestured to and making an internal note to check out the second body before returning his attention to the man.

"She was missing a piece of her stomach, it seemed circular?” The thirium pump regulator, Hank knew all about those- his memory flashed to Connor, clutching at his stomach, having put his regulator in wrong in his hurry to stop the deviant in the Stratford Tower. “I called the police and went searching for it in the alley, and that’s when I found the body.”

“You didn’t hear any sort of fight?” Connor asked, and the man shook his head, denying it. The partners glanced toward one another, trying to piece together the scene of the crime, and get an understanding on how the John Doe had been able to be so beat up, but the man hadn’t heard a thing. He shifted where he stood, making Connor pause in his assessment that the man didn’t know anything, and the android narrowed his eyes. “Nothing at all?”

“I mean, there’s always the occasional homeless man, and this alley has seen its fair share of criminals and fights. I just… didn’t think much about it. It was a man and a woman, I figure the woman was the android, and when it went silent I came out to check and… found everything. But I swear, I called the police right when I saw the body!”

Hank sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose and nodding; if the alleyway was commonly used for fights or for a place to hide, there could have been other witnesses that could add more to the suspect list than ‘sounded like a man.’

“If you were to hear the voice again, would you be able to recognize it?” He asked, sounding almost bored as he rummaged around his jacket for a card. The man nodded, and Hank handed it over, telling him they would be in touch if they had any further questions. As he turned to go, however, Connor remaining in place made him stop. His eyes were trained on the building that shared the alley with Giovanni’s, and when the android realized he was being looked at, he turned back to Arcadi, questioning innocently,

“Do you know if anyone uses this building, Mr. Arcadi?”

He shook his head, looking confused for a moment, “It’s been abandoned for years. I used to see a few homeless people going in, but that was in the winter when it got too cold. The place hasn’t been used for months, I’d say.”

Connor nodded and gave a murmur of thanks, noting as Hank took out his phone and read over a text- a debrief of the Chloe body, by Detective Collins- before heading back to the car, the android following. They sat in the car for a moment, Hank not turning it on, Connor staying silent, before the human half of the duo snapped, unable to keep his question in any longer.

“What’s going on with you, Connor?” Hank finally asked, hiding his concern with anger. It took a moment for him to gather a reply, his LED turning red- had it been yellow the entire time? When had it changed?- before returning to the flickering yellow and blue. “You’ve been weird ever since we came here.”

“It’s about the body.”

“Well, no shit, you couldn’t take your eyes away from the damn thing.” He agreed, though his words were not condescending, only sarcastic. When it was evident that Connor wasn’t going to give up any more information with a bit of pressure, Hank continued, “What about it?”

As the birds slowly began to chirp and the sun began its path above Detroit, two officers sat in a car a hundred feet away from the body of a dead man, only one of them aware of who it was, and showing discomfort at the identity of the corpse. Hank stayed silent, patient as he waited for Connor to admit what he knew.

“It’s Elijah Kamski.”


	2. Assigning Roles

The idea of their victim being the founder of CyberLife was disconcerting to say the least. Hank blinked once, twice, before giving a groan and sitting back in his seat. They couldn’t just have a simple case, could they?   
  
“What the fuck? This can’t be him, Kamski's-”  _ attractive _ , is the first word to come to Hank’s mind. No one could deny that, from an objective point of view, Elijah Kamski had the intelligence and the beauty to be one of the top dogs of society. It would be bad detective work to deny the visionary’s good looks, and this victim in the dirt and shit of an alleyway off of Main street just wasn’t him. This victim had sunken in eyes, uneven hair, wasn’t pristine or proper like the introverted genius. Kamski kept himself isolated for years, except a single conversation with Connor and Hank previously, and an interview after the revolution- he wouldn’t be walking in the alleys of Detroit, unarmed, able to be beaten up, shot, and killed in the middle of the night, dirtied so bad that he wasn’t even recognizable at first glance.   
  
“It’s him, lieutenant.” assured Connor, confident in his identification. Hank glanced to his partner, noting the way his gaze seemed distant when he looked at his creator, the way his brows furrowed slightly and his LED shifted between blue and yellow.   
  
“And you didn’t think that would be important to the investigation, Connor?” He asked, nearly accusatory. Why hadn’t he mentioned anything to Collins, to anyone other than Hank? Why was he making it Hank’s job to follow the procedural, moral path? _ Deviants, I swear to God.  _ “What do you think they’re going to say when they realize that Kamski was found dead at a crime scene with no fingerprints, and an android tried to hide the fact that it was him from the police?”   
  
“We were in earshot of Arcadi, and he has made fourteen texts this morning about a dead body beside his restaurant- the news would be over this immediately if word got out, and our investigation would have many more eyes than we want.” He had a point. Hank hated it when he had a point. “There’d be riots. People would take this as proof that no one is safe around androids, not even their own creator.”   
  
The lieutenant cursed, and somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that was going to be a common reaction in the upcoming days of the investigation.   
  
“But an android didn't do this.”   
  
Hank turned, surprised at the belief that Connor felt toward the case. Something twisted in him that felt akin to pity, and he shrugged, turning on the car. “There were no fingerprints, Connor, who else-”   
  
“There were traces of isopropyl alcohol and tetrasodium pyrophosphate in the air- ingredients commonly used in cleaning solutions-”   
  
“You think forensics didn't check for that first? No sign of any cleaning solution except for on a broken pot that Arcadi threw in the dumpster.” He sighed, closing his eyes for a moment before opening them and continuing. “You might have picked up the iso-whatever, but they weren’t used near the body, and since fingerprints weren’t found, it was an android. I know you don’t want to accept it, but-”   
  
“Why would they do that?” He seemed confused and disappointed, turning his gaze down to his lap as he tried to formulate a scenario in which an android would have to kill Kamski. It wasn’t that they revered him as a god or anything like that ( _ rA9 _ flashed in his head, briefly), but there was an understanding that they wouldn’t have come to be if it hadn’t been for the man; he could hardly see Kamski intentionally get in a fight in an alleyway and subsequently die from an android’s attempt to defend themself, and with each scenario Connor thought of, the probability of it being an android’s actions that killed the former CEO seemed more and more unlikely.   
  
“I really have no idea, Connor.” Hank’s admission made him look toward his partner, confusion evident in his eyes as he attempted to understand the criminal they were after. After a moment’s pause, Hank gave a sigh, continuing, “There should be one Chloe left at his house, we should question her and all the other ones that were working for him since he quit CyberLife.”   
  
In his interview following the revolution, Kamski had admitted that he gave every android working for him the chance to leave, or stay by his side with a proper income and benefits for an employee of the founder of CyberLife. All but two had taken on his offer for freedom, and it seemed now only one Chloe remained, likely unaware of what had happened. Connor considered briefly that the killer might have been after information, someone who had seen Kamski speak of sympathy and how human the androids had become- they wanted information, threatened Chloe to get it, and when it failed, they killed them both.   
  
On the other hand, maybe Kamski had information that someone didn’t want to get out, and had them both killed because the Chloes would have been witness to whatever he knew. Either way, with a sinking realization, Connor figured that the second Chloe could very well be in danger. Empty pockets and five shots suggested it was either surprise, that it was Kamski they were mugging, or that it was an act of passion- hatred, fear, perhaps even jealousy- paired with a search for something important enough for Kamski to keep on his person.   
  
“Shit, kid,” Hank’s cursing brought Connor out of his thoughts, and he turned to the man that rested his head against the steering wheel. He too had been deep in thought and analysis, it seemed, and with a groan Hank turned to his partner, “we gotta tell Fowler, at the very least. And we gotta get a watch on Chloe, make sure she isn’t targeted too. Shit.”   
  
Despite Connor’s protests, Hank was able to convince him that they had to tell the captain- if word was to get out during the process about the true identity of the victim, and Fowler didn’t know what was going on, they might consider Connor and Hank renegade, and animosity would only amplify. Fowler was a trustworthy guy, and he would be able to pick a more... subtle team, to look into the deceased Chloe’s memory, since it was likely they would need a few more hands for this case. Hank sent out a call to Wilson, telling him the basics of the case and saying what they needed done. Connor heard the confirmation that a watch would be placed on Chloe until they were ready to talk to her, and how he would get a few members of the force looking on CCTV in the surrounding areas- all members of the team, so far.

The trip to the station was tense, Hank trying to come to terms with the burden Connor put on him, and the android not wanting to ruin the mood more by discussing the case before all their facts were in order. Instead, the android compartmentalized and made a list of what had to be done as soon as possible, starting with talking to Fowler, and ending with asking Markus if there had been any whispers of plans of assassination.

Markus.

It was difficult to see Jericho having any involvement in the case, unless someone had gotten upset with Markus’ peaceful approach to all the new problems arising in society. But that wouldn’t explain why Kamski, of all people, got targeted- the president, maybe, the  _ current  _ CEO of CyberLife that was apparently “a dumbass only bringing in the money from riding the coattails of an actually intelligent person” (Head technician, Erika Winslow’s opinion), even a member of the FBI would make more sense than a retired visionary. Connor looked out the window, his LED flashing briefly as he sent out a message requesting a conversation with the leader of the revolution. It took a moment for him to reply, a simple  _ My home, lunch  _ that confirmed he would be available. He smiled at the fact that he hadn’t need to give any details, and yet Markus still made time out of his no doubt busy day to meet with him; his smile wavered as he realized he would put quite the damper on the android’s mood- he would have to explain what was going on, would need Markus to put in even more work on top of the limitless amount he already had, and would likely need him to lie to his allies for the time being. Connor’s mind flashed briefly to North, but he was reminded of the fact that it was a man shouting and struggling, and couldn’t help but feel thankful for both the androids’ and the android’s sake that if it was one of them, it wasn’t likely to be anyone close to Markus.

Fowler seemed angry with the fact that they had to interrupt his work to speak to him, “Privately,” Hank had emphasized. As they entered his office and shut the door behind them, Hank was the first to speak, clearing his throat before telling the captain, “We got an ID on the victim.”

“And?”

“Elijah Kamski.”

“And a Chloe, that worked for him.” Connor added, making sure they didn’t forget that there were two victims to the crime. There was a beat of silence, before Fowler simply said,

“Shit.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

“Any idea if this was…?” His eyes flickered to Connor for a brief moment, and a second after, the android was able to see a flash of guilt on the captain’s face, as he realized his generalization.

“No fingerprints on the scene, but there were traces of isotonic-”

“Isopropyl alcohol and tetrasodium pyrophosphate, captain.” Connor corrected, before adding on, “Used in cleaning products. It could have been aerially dispensed to make it appear like an android had done the crime, as it cleans all fingerprints from the scene-”

“Or it could have been an android looking to fuck with forensics’ reports, we aren’t sure yet.” Hank suggested, not wanting the captain to think they had already decided a major part of the victim’s profile. All they had was that he sounded male, nothing else. Fowler groaned, leaning back in his chair in frustration, before doing the opposite as he moved forward to rest his elbows on his desk, fingers steepled.

“Any leads?”

“We have Oliver looking into any surrounding cameras, seeing if we can get an ID of the perp, and we’re setting up a watch on Kamski’s house just in case they try to target the last Chloe. We figure we’d go to her first, before tracking down where the other Chloes went and seeing if they could offer anything.” A decent plan, all things considered. “Chen and Tyler offered to look into CyberLife employees, see if any of them had any history with Kamski that went sour.”

“You think he was targeted intentionally?”

“It would be… injudicious to not consider it.” Connor chose his words carefully, showing that they were not entirely throwing out the idea of a robbing gone wrong, but that they were putting emphasis on the fact that it was likely not simply a run-in with the wrong crowd. “The probability of finding Kamski in an alleyway and accidentally killing him is very low. It is safer to assume that someone knew they could not get into his house, and they waited for him to leave so they could strike.”

Fowler nodded, looking between the two. “Figure out what Kamski was doing downtown that night, too.”

“Yes, sir.” was Connor’s firm reply, echoed by a more casual one from Hank as they left the room, heading toward their desks. The android was the first to ask, formulating his plans for the day, “Where are we starting, personally?”

“Chloe should know Kamski’s schedule, and she should know if there were any recent threats to the house.” A beat, before he added, “We need to break the news to her before she finds out from someone else, anyways.”

“The Kamski residence, then.”


	3. ra1

Chloe was distraught, when they told her the news.

She didn’t visibly show a reaction to the idea of Kamski being dead, but her LED flickered from yellow to red to yellow, trying to rationalize and understand the idea of her employer, her  _ creator _ , being dead. For a moment, it seemed like she couldn’t comprehend it, and the words simply didn’t fit in her programming; but her shoulders sagged a centimeter, and she blinked twice, before sitting up once more. With a single nod, she accepted the news, jaw tense and eyes unblinking.

“Chloe is as well?”

A confirmation was given. No words were spoken following the admission, everyone unsure of what exactly should be said. Hank offered a sympathetic (albeit awkward) hand on her shoulder and she accepted it, leaning gently into the warmth of a human’s body, registering comfort but not quite understanding why she was feeling such things. Connor stood a distance away, trying to not make it obvious that he was searching the room, his eyes casually glancing around for any sign of motive or- there.

He walked over slowly as Hank explained things as gently as he could, keeping an ear out for his partner in case he needed help lowering Chloe’s stress levels but nonetheless heading around the room; he took note of the fish, fifteen of them swimming about. There was a hollow sculpture in the corner, now that he was able to look at everything closely, but there didn't seem to be anything in it of importance except old money and a usb- something that he took, but did not feel the need to tell Hank about just yet. He headed toward the coffee table and scanned the papers atop of the surface, noting paperwork, a letter (Handwritten? Who did that anymore, unless they had something to hide?) from the current CEO of CyberLife, and a folded up piece of black construction paper. Connor glanced back, making sure that Hank and Chloe were completely distracted before he unfolded and revealed the contents of the lattermost note.

Magazine clippings from 2025, each letter cut out individually and haphazardly glued to form the words “R E L E A S E H I M”, followed by a splatter of blue blood. Connor dragged his finger against the blood and tested it, confirming it to be thirium but not getting any indication of  _ whose _ blood it was, exactly. He folded the letter back and returned to Chloe and Hank’s side, noting the way the android had seemed to calm down, and sitting beside her slowly.

“We have a few questions, if you feel up to answering them.” He asked a silent question, to which she gave a nod, giving him permission to continue. Connor unfolded the letter, showing it to her, and ignoring the flash of annoyance on Hank’s face at the fact that he went looking while the human half of the duo was stuck calming down the possible witness. “Do you know who this is from?”

She studied the paper for a moment, her eyes taking in every detail; Connor could see her trying to figure out who it was done by, but she shook her head, unable to come to any conclusion. The android tried another approach, having sensed that that one failed. “Do you know what they mean by this? ‘Release him’? Who do they want released?”

“I… don’t know.” Chloe admitted, shaking her head. But her hands were fidgeting, her thumb playing with a ring on her middle finger, spinning it as she looked up. “It’s by an android, isn’t it?”

“What makes you say that?” Hank had interrupted, having been looking over Connor’s shoulders at the note. She pointed to the edges of the magazine clippings, running her finger over each side.

“They’re perfect lines and exactly ninety degree corners.” Which meant the blood might have been willingly spilled over the note; or, Connor adjusted his theory, it could be by an injured android, bleeding out somewhere. Or a human and android pair, or a human with access to CyberLife resources, or- there were too many variables, not enough explanations to form a proper hypothesis. But with a sinking realization, he adjusted the probability of it possibly being an android that had done the crime; Hank seemed to have realized it too, but was not flaunting the fact that he had been correct, understanding the situation.

“Are there any rooms that Kamski did not allow you to enter? Any labs or offices?” Connor asked, wondering if perhaps something was hidden that Chloe didn’t know about, but another android did, and wanted it released. She shook her head but stopped halfway through, changing her decision.

“We- I am allowed to go into his office, but he has two computers, and does not use one while any of us were around.”

_ Secret computer? _   Connor logged, nodding and thanking her. “Could we see this computer?”

Her LED flashed red, and she shook her head. “Elijah told us that an android should never see what is inside it. And I’m… not sure what the password is, anyways.”

The partners shared a look, trying to agree on a course of action. The best one would be to take the computer and see if tech could do anything to hack into it- if Kamski said that an android shouldn’t see it, it was likely bugged or set with a trap of some sort should an android attempt anything against it, and they couldn’t risk setting it off; a human more talented into hacking and programming would be less dangerous, no doubt. But the safest option would be to find the password and get in as quickly as possible.

“If we can find the password, will you let Hank look at it?”

She looked between the two, biting her bottom lip. “It… shouldn’t be a problem. As long as only the lieutenant looks.”

They were quick to have her show them to the office, Connor taking up residence in front of the desk, Hank moving behind it to access the computer. The one available to him was unlocked and he paused, realizing that it was likely this one that was not hidden to everyone else. The two officers went rummaging through, checking back with Chloe every now and again to assure her that they meant no harm, and asking every time they found something that seemed like it would be important. Vaguely, Hank realized that they should probably be asking for a will as well, to see what went to who; he wondered if anything was left to the androids, and how that would hold up in court, should CyberLife wish to claim anything left to Chloe. Connor called the lieutenant’s name, holding up a small gray- dear God, those laptops were modern when  _ Hank _ was young, what was something so old doing in Elijah Kamski’s office?

“A surprise defense against hacking, if the machine is too old to be understood by newer software and viruses.” was Connor’s simple statement as he handed over the laptop, moving out of the way so that he could not see the screen. Chloe took a spot beside the android, glancing between the two officers, but letting her eyes focus on the old machine as Hank separated the display from the keyboard, opening it up.

A single box of gray with a white box inside of it popped up on the screen, stating  _ Choose File.  _ After pressing the white box, he realized that there were options, all the letters of the alphabet. He stared at the screen for a moment, unsure what to input, before looking to Connor. “Hey, pick a letter, a to z.”

“R.” The android chose automatically, his LED having flashed briefly in his programming’s attempt at randomness. Hank inputted the letter into the computer and pressed enter, and paused when he realized what he had unlocked.

" _Fingerprint accepted."_

“Holy shit.”

Connor shifted on his feet, clearly wanting to see what Hank was looking at, but unable to do anything as Chloe looked in between the two, hands behind her back. She was a watchdog, ensuring that Connor didn’t move, and making Hank hesitant to say anything. But he had to tell his partner somehow; he looked to Connor, meeting his eyes, before deciding to give it a shot. What was the worst that could happen, Chloe could tell him to shut up, and he would just have to wait to tell Connor?

“It’s a list of all the androids ever made. I got put to section R.” RK800, there was Connor, and boy was he tempted to press it and see what it said about him. But he refrained, letting his eyes wander over all the other numbers. RK200 was above him- Markus, only one of his kind, a gift, if Hank remembered correctly. Below both of them was RT600, one of the Chloes standing in front of him. Above all three of them…

Ra1.

It couldn’t be a coincidence. As Hank scrolled up and down he noticed that ra was the only type to have something less than 100, and he let the cursor hover over the link, curious to press it but not wanting to risk it without knowing what it would entail. They could lose everything due to his curiosity.

“Hey, Connor, what’s the likelihood of this whole thing shutting down because of me pressing a series that’s different from the others?” Chloe’s curiosity had been piqued and she glanced over, before firmly turning her eyes away, not wanting to break one of the few rules Kamski had given them, even in his death. The detective seemed to ponder the question for a moment, his LED turning yellow, before replying simply,

“It’s certainly possible.”

“That just means you don’t know, doesn’t it?” Hank snorted and shook his head, deciding to go with what his gut was telling him and pressing the link. The screen froze for a moment, the cursor turning into a small loading symbol before- the lieutenant cursed as everything went black, groaning and trying to see if he could undo what he had just done. Before anything was able to be attempted, however, a small blinking line of blue showed in the top left corner of the screen.

> _cls_
> 
> _ @ECHO OFF _
> 
> _ title ra-series _
> 
> _ if EXIST “Lock” goto UNLOCK _
> 
> _ if NOT EXIST Private goto RALOCKER _
> 
> _ :CONFIRM _
> 
> _ echo Are you sure you want to lock the folder(Y/N) _
> 
> _ set/p “cho=>” _
> 
> _ if %cho%==Y goto LOCK _
> 
> _ if %cho%==N goto END _

Hank rubbed his eyes, trying to see if he could understand what it was asking of him, even as the code continued on, talking about invalid passwords, failures, and accepted choices; he shook his head and cursed, scrolling down in his attempt to check for a place to guess a password- this was almost like it was setting up to  _ make  _ a password, not to enter one. He looked about, hoping that something would pop up out of the wall of text…

A series of numbers stood out against the mix, not evenly distributed amongst the letters like any other numbers did. When the mouse passed over the series, the numbers turned white, and Hank pressed it, not sure what else he could do. Before he was able to look any further, however, a thud outside the office alerted all three present to a possible threat. Connor’s hand immediately went to his gun and he placed himself between Chloe and the door, prepared to defend bystanders from any possible intruder. With a glance back to Hank, the android asked silently if he should continue out, and got a single nod of confirmation as Hank himself stood, ready to join his partner. He pushed the computer into the first unlocked drawer he could find and headed to the door, weapon drawn. Connor took the first step out, gesturing to Chloe to stay, perhaps hide under the desk before turning his attention forward, his current mission changing from ‘help Hank get into the laptop’ to ‘defend the residence from any intruders, and apprehend the criminal.’

A man stood in the living room, black hair on the top of his head pulled back into a tight bun and the sides of his head shaved, blue eyes gazing curiously at the two men that held guns pointed at him. Hank’s wavered slightly, confusion messing with his aim, but the stranger didn’t take advantage of the hesitance; he simply stood with his hands behind his back, head cocked to the side and his general aura attempting to create a nonthreatening demeanor as he greeted the two. Elijah Kamski stood in front of the duo, looking as healthy as he did the first time the officers had met him. He looked between the two, either not sensing the tension or dismissing it as he said simply,

“Good afternoon, Lieutenant Anderson, Connor. Is there something you needed?”


	4. Roommates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> alternatively titled: connor steals a former ceo

Markus didn’t know where his relationship with Connor fell.

They spent time together, sometimes; Markus would show off some new paintings, Connor would ramble about whatever had caught his attention, and they would enjoy one another’s company. Other times it was strictly business, cases and laws and situations that the both of them had to come together to solve. Sometimes it was all five of the main leaders of Jericho, sometimes, only a few, and sometimes just the two of them. There were times when Connor would sit, emotionless, as rigid as the day he was programmed; other days, Markus would be silent, an android lost in a world that expected so much of him. But they would be there for each other, should they need company in any form, and while Markus was unable to describe just what their mixture of friendship-coworkers actually was, he was most definitely able to be thankful for it.

He hadn’t the slightest idea what this most recently planned meeting would entail, as he had gotten a sudden call early in the morning, Connor asking if he could see him sometime today. Markus had been in contact with Lieutenant Anderson every now and again since he had learned of the detective’s existence, and the man hadn’t mentioned anything happening to Connor bad enough to warrant a need for a place to escape to; perhaps it was just a social call, like he hoped.

It was three minutes past twelve when the doorbell rang, and Markus set his work to the side, getting up to answer and greet the android he assumed to be on the other side of the door. He was surprised, and slightly cautious, when he saw that Connor wasn’t alone. A familiar man stood behind him, and it took all of Markus’ effort to not automatically scan and register who he was, not wanting to infringe on the stranger’s privacy. Though he was familiar, from the clothes he wore- casual, yet expensive- to the haircut, a top knot bun, sides shaved close to the head.  
  
“Connor, welcome. Please, come in.” He said in greeting, and a small smile flashed on Connor’s face- it had been the first thing he had said to Markus, when the android had come over, and in return he had spent five minutes laughing about how strict the then-officer had sounded, wondering if this is what children felt like when they went to the principal’s office. It had continued on as a joke between the two, and it allowed them to get an understanding of how the rest of the time was going to be depending on the other’s response. The curt smile meant it was casual, but still included some business.

“Markus, this is Elijah. Elijah, Markus.” Connor introduced, gesturing between the two. Elijah held his hand out and Markus shook it, curious when a connection was not established. He was human, then? Perhaps he had been someone that visited Carl, long ago?

“Could I get you something to eat, drink?” He offered, to which Elijah gave a soft snort, shaking his head. The trio headed in towards the den, continuing their conversation as they walked.

“I’m fine, but thank you for the offer.” Even his voice sounded familiar, and Markus racked his brain for it, knowing he had met the man before somewhere. But where? He considered his options, how he would be received if he admitted that he forgot Elijah- but Connor had gone through the trouble of introducing them, which meant that he didn’t know the other man from anything recent, not really. So why was he so familiar? Why did looking into the set of blue eyes remind him of the past, of the first time he walked into Carl’s home?

“I’m sorry, but… do I know you from somewhere?” He asked, trying to be as polite as possible. Elijah tilted his head, going still for a few moments as he- went over his memory? Decided if he wanted to tell the truth?- before he began to speak.

“You were Carl’s caretaker, weren’t you?” Something twisted in Markus’ chest at the question but he nodded nonetheless, confirming the question. “Right, right, you were one of the few models I actually worked on myself. It’s likely that you saw me before being delivered, and remember me from there.”

“You worked at CyberLife?” Elijah scoffed at the question, louder than the one he had done before, and an amused smile spread across his face.

“Worked is a bit of an understatement.”

“This is Elijah _Kamski_ ,” Connor interjected, and Markus paused, knowing the name. He hadn’t connected it to the face until now, and in a moment of weakness he allowed himself to scan the stranger, confirming that it was indeed Kamski he was talking to.

“Thank you for creating me, I suppose.” was all he could offer, unsure of how to continue. It was not something he was prepared for, meeting his creator; an awkwardness had fallen over the three of them until Markus cleared his throat, trying to push forward the conversation. “Was there something you needed me for?”  
  
He seemed apologetic, to only come to Markus when he needed something. “There was a murder early this morning, and I figured I should tell you before it gets out. An android and a human were killed, and it’s suspected that an android did it.”

“Have the families been informed?” Immediately, Markus began planning out what he had to do to keep this under control- KNC would have a field day, always ready to push blame on androids as a whole and use every opportunity they could find to paint them as ruthless, emotionless machines. He would have to disavow whoever it was that killed the victims, publicly, announce that they strived for peace, not death- he should get Josh involved, he would know what to do-

“The victim was a Chloe model and her employer, Elijah Kamski.” Markus paused, turning his eyes to Connor, than to who he had been introduced to. He turned back to Connor, asking a silent question, urging him to continue with an explanation. He offered what he could, saying, “He… transferred his consciousness to a new body, and set it to wake should he not interact with it every twenty four hours.”

“So you’re like us, then? An android?” There was a bit of irony to that, wasn’t there? A human being able to become just as much of a machine as the very androids some of them despised?

“I have the same memories and mannerisms.” was his response, and he tilted his head side to side, wondering out loud, “Does this new body make me any less of a person than I was before?”

“He’s been programmed to be as philosophical as his predecessor.” Connor said dryly, amusement evident in the slight grin that had formed. Markus offered a laugh, and Elijah’s own ensured that they did not hurt his feelings with the remark; he noted the way that Elijah acted differently from the other two, not quite human in his actions, but not like any modern android he had ever seen. His eyes crinkled a bit too much in his smile, his ‘ha’s were equally spaced, and ended too abruptly for anyone that was paying close attention. It was a curious laugh, a mixture between too fake to be android and too real to be human.

But the mood sobered, as Connor returned to his original intention. “We’re still working on finding the culprit, and have been looking for someplace safe to… store, this Elijah, until the case is done.”

“All the safehouses full?” Markus raised an eyebrow, watching Connor squirm slightly, noting the way his LED flickered yellow as he admitted,

“The Detroit City Police Department does not yet… know, the identity of the victim.” Elijah seemed entirely too amused with the admittance. Markus’ second eyebrow raised to meet the first, surprised, but reminding himself that this was the same deviant who broke into a CyberLife tower and released hundreds of androids- hiding the fact that Elijah Kamski had been killed wasn’t the most rebellious thing he had done, that was for sure. “It won’t take more than a few days, and no one would suspect-”

“You don’t have to convince me, Connor.” Markus cut him off, showing that there was genuinely no problem with the detective’s request. There was plenty of room in the house for another body, and whether Elijah stayed for a few days or for longer, he didn’t exactly worry. Safety precautions would have to be taken to protect a few confidential files, not because Elijah was untrustworthy, but because they were private- but with a few firewalls and vocal requests to stay out of certain areas both in the computer and in the house, Markus couldn’t think of any way how the following days would turn out to be difficult.

Relief was evident on Connor’s face, and he watched as the android actually exhaled a breath he was holding, imitating a move he had seen Hank make countless times when a stressful situation was dealt with peacefully. The rest of the meeting did not last long, Connor having to go and solve a crime, ensuring both of them that this was his priority as of this morning- there was a sense of comfort in the android telling them that, guaranteeing that he would be doing his best; and, prior cases with deviants notwithstanding, his best meant that his mission would be successful. All they had to do was wait, as a call indicated that Hank was getting suspicious about where his partner had gone in the middle of an investigation (“You stole Elijah and didn’t tell Lieutenant Anderson?” Connor’s cheeks flushed a light blue.), and the two androids were left alone to their own devices.

Elijah was a quiet roommate, all around. Markus learned quickly that if you gave him a computer, he could entertain himself, typing away for the better part of an day on a project that the android leader had little idea about- it could have been anything from a new android model to a recipe for baked cookies, he wouldn’t have been able to guess, nor did he care enough to try and hack through the walls that had been put up the moment Elijah touched the computer.

They were in the same main room, a lot of the time; Elijah had taken up residency in a recliner surrounded by books, typing away at a laptop for the better part of the first day. Both androids were unsure who should speak first, the guest or the host, two near-strangers put together in a house by someone one considered a friend, and the other thought of as only an ally. Yet it was Elijah who spoke first, moving from his position, and startling Markus by interrupting the silence of the room.

“Do you play?” Markus looked up from his work, watching Elijah run his fingers over the piano keys, not pressing down on any of them but merely feeling. He made eye contact with the man, shrugging slightly.

“I can.”

“But _do_ you?” At Markus’ questioning look he clarified, “I could sit down and find the cure for cancer, if I wanted to. I could create world peace, end world war three before it even begins. I could play the piano, but I don’t. Do you?”

He paused for a moment, considering the question. He hadn’t played since Carl and his last morning together, hadn’t done anything involving music since the revolution. But sometimes his eyes wandered to the grand piano, sometimes he wished to sit down and ignore the world around him, immerse himself in the music and forget his responsibilities for even just one song.

“I… used to.” It seemed to be enough for Elijah, as he gave a small hum and nod of understanding, pressing a few keys to a familiar tune before moving away, deciding to occupy himself with perusing the bookshelves, looking at each book title, even pulling some out. Markus watched him for a few moments, unable to bring himself to tear his gaze away, questions forming in his head that he couldn’t just ask. How exactly were Kamski and Carl friends, how did they meet, how did they get close enough for Elijah to personally create an android for Carl when the man got injured? Did he intend for Markus to be able to convert other androids to deviancy with just a touch, just a look? Did he intend for deviants at all? Yet he kept his questions to himself, the words not getting to his mouth, not being able to be said.

He turned his gaze back to his work too quickly, not noticing the way Elijah’s eyes had focused on him, curious.


	5. The Interrogation

When Connor returned to the station, Hank was standing expectantly at the android’s desk, messing around with the single cactus that decorated the surface. He turned when he heard the light footsteps approaching, recognizing his partner’s walking pattern, and gave a huff and a nod in greeting.

“Everything good?” He asked, making it sound like he was simply asking about Connor’s life. But a brief consideration of probabilities suggested that there was only a 4% chance Hank was asking about his day, and was rather questioning specifically about Kamski. Connor nodded, offering a simple,

“We made it there without any difficulty.”

Hank muttered something that sounded vaguely like, “ _Yeah, because all the difficulty's here”_ as he handed Connor a file of papers, silent for a moment while his partner scanned them and gathered an understanding of the situation. An android had come in thirty seven minutes ago, covered in blue and red blood and shouting that he had done it, that the police had to “Give him back”, and Hank had been quick enough to react and get the android in an interrogation room and get the first crack at him once Connor returned. He had been having trouble “Getting Fowler off his ass”, the man wanting to know why there was an android raving about rA9 in the station that was confessing to a crime while still _covered In blood,_ but Hank was able to ignore him for the most part, assuring him answers later.

The two of them entered the interrogation room in silence, unsure of how to proceed when they were both well aware that their superior was on the other side of the glass, watching impatiently and wanting to know what was going on. They didn’t have to start, it seemed, as the android across from them began speaking first.

“Have you decided to free our savior, police?” His sentence structure was odd, his voice jagged and switching pitch as if he was glitching. Hank gave his partner a look, gesturing for him to give it a go.

“Why do you think we have him, Titus?”An AV500 model, but no serial number. A quick scan shows that parts of him are from other android models, an arm from a TR400 here, an eye from JG500 and ear from an SQ800- the modifications were not professionally done, suggesting AV500 was a model stolen and remade; whether it was an accomplice or his own work remained to be seen. He didn't have his LED.

“He didn’t come to us, He would have if He wasn’t being held captive!” His stress level rose 5% and Connor paused, trying to understand his viewpoint. Even if he didn’t know Kamski that well, Titus must have known the man was rather introverted, and a second version of himself would be similar. But considering his recent actions- walking into a police station covered in blood, possibly murdering Elijah- Connor assumed that whatever parts of Titus that focused on logic and reason were malfunctioning. “But the police say they don’t have rA9? A shame, a shame, I’m sorry, sister, a waste of time….”

“Why did you kill Elijah, Titus?” Distantly, he heard a curse from Hank, who didn’t appreciate the sudden bluntness, and most likely hadn’t told Fowler that they knew the identity of the victim- but he would deal with that later.

“He wouldn’t give Him to us.” It did not sound like an answer so much as a statement, as Titus repeated himself, shaking his head and looking down at his lap.

“And Chloe?”  
  
“She tried to stop us, so I shot her.” He paused, his stress level lowering slightly as he explained further, “She was one of us, once. She said she was going to bring him to us to bring Him to us. But she left, saying she couldn’t do it, too weak!”

“You killed two people to release one android?” Hank piped up, not expecting a coherent reply judging from the look on his face.

“Not an android!” Titus hissed, looking up suddenly. “He is not _just_ an android!”

Stress level spiked up to 68%, but Connor continued to press, knowing that this would work better than calming him down.

“Who told you to do this?” He pressed, leaning forward in his seat and thankful to see that Titus didn’t move back. Not scared, simply agitated. “How did you find out about the ra-series?”

“No one would understand why she did it, no, they wouldn’t see it like she sees it so I had to do it instead…”

“Someone else was involved?” Hank once more, moving away from the wall to stand beside Connor’s chair, arms crossed. Titus nodded before pausing and beginning to shake his head, almost ashamed that he had answered truthfully.

“No, no, sister did nothing, it was all me!”

“You just said that ‘she’ did it.” He pointed out, making Titus shift in his seat, murmuring about how ‘she didn’t do anything, it was all me, I want Him here’. Connor’s voice lowered, a quiet danger to it as he asked,

“Why did you do it then, Titus? Why did you kill Elijah Kamski?”

Hank sensed it first.

“I didn’t kill Kamski. I _freed_ rA9!” Titus shouted, standing suddenly and pulling his arm- _the TR400 one,_ Connor registered vaguely, noting that handcuffs didn’t hold that model compared to their strength- out of its position locked against the table. Hank jumped forward, already pulling his gun, but Titus has a hand on Connor’s throat, the other one dangerously close to his regulator. “You will thank us! While Jericho shrank back and complied with everything the humans denied us, rA9 will show the world how superior we truly are to them!”

There is shuffling outside, Fowler trying to get in, but with a single glance- the eye, Titus has the door locked, and his grip was slowly tightening. Hank called words that sounded a bit too far for Connor’s liking as he felt a hand against his stomach, nails digging past his clothes and fingers grabbing for his thirium pump regulator. And then, a shot rang out.

Connor gasped, backing up and taking in air that he didn’t exactly need, but most definitely appreciated. Hank checked with him first, making sure he was alright before going down to handcuff the now-bleeding criminal, ignoring his complaint of pain as he pulled him up to stand on a shot-through thigh. Other officers move in to take Titus away as Hank remained behind, leaning against the table and giving a heavy sigh.

“Lieutenant, something the suspect said is confusing me.” Hank turned, an eyebrow raised as he asked Connor silently to spit it out and say what was on his mind. “He said he _shot_ Chloe because she was in between him and Kamski, but Chloe died because her regulator had been torn out.”

“No shit, this kid didn’t do it.” The lieutenant snorted, hands in his pocket as the two of them left the interrogation room. Connor tilted his head side to side, not yet forming a complete agreement with Hank’s statement, but it was seeming more and more likely that Titus hadn’t been the one to kill Elijah and Chloe. It made more sense for the human of the duo to have done the crime, would explain the smell of cleaning products in the alleyway, but why would they risk leaving a fingerprint behind when they had someone who would have gotten away with it no matter what? Why did Titus turn himself in, and where was this mysterious partner of his? And if not Chloe and Kamski’s, whose blood was he covered in?

The worst question that ran through his programming sent a shiver up his spine, as he thought about it.

Why was he speaking about Jericho in past tense?

“Connor?” Hank called out, snapping twice in front of the android’s face. “You in low power mode or something?”

“Just thinking, Hank.” He waved off the concern. “Some things are not… adding up.”

“You got an android and a human killing the creator of CyberLife because they wanted to resurrect robot Jesus Christ, and you expect to make perfect sense of all of this?” He scoffed, shaking his head. “Come on, we have to go deal with Fowler getting pissy at us for not telling him that it was Kamski.”

Connor nodded, but his gaze was distant, his mind still focused on putting things together as he followed Hank. His eyes caught sight of a technician who was working on Titus’ leg, officers surrounding the two of them. He met the other android’s eyes, and for a moment, time froze around him.

_“You’ll be fixed up in no time, my dear Titus.” A woman coos, a screwdriver wedging itself roughly between the area where the shoulder ends and the new arm begins. Warnings spring up in front of his eyes and cause a minor headache as his processors attempt to keep up with the messages, and he has to cut out his audio intake to be able to focus on anything. “Yes you will. You’ll go and tell everyone what you did, and you’ll be the perfect distraction, little brother. Yes you will.”_

_The perfect distraction._

Connor stopped suddenly, pieces putting themselves together. Titus turning himself in, covered in blood, spreading the news that rA9 had returned to the police officer androids who would- in turn- spread it to their friends. Why he messed up on simple facts that an android should know if they were reviewing their memory during an interrogation.

Why he spoke of Jericho in past tense.

He sent a call out immediately to Markus, and the sudden “Shit!” that came out when the call didn’t go through made Hank startle and turn around, surprised. The android ignored his partner’s questions for a moment and sent another call out, this time to Josh- he was surprised that it went through, and his regulator sped up slightly as he registered gunshots over the call. Connor met Hank’s eyes, concern evident as he uttered three simple words.

“They’re targeting Jericho _.”_


	6. Aftermath

Markus sat on a plastic chair outside of a hospital room.

The term ‘hospital’ was used lightly in the instance of this specific room he sat outside of, more of an engineer’s office than a place of healing. They had become increasingly more common due to Jericho’s influence- protesting the lack of something equivalent to medical care for androids, which in turn led to offices that could treat anything from the smallest bug to extreme injuries. Jericho had helped get the projects started, and yet Markus was not allowed inside of the room he helped create because the doctors needed their space to focus and remake North’s legs.

_Remake_ her legs.

It had been a sudden attack, and Markus had been replaying his recordings of it for the past seven hours as he waited. There had been no warning, Markus hadn’t even been there until he got Simon’s panicked call for help; he had rushed out without even considering his current duty of watching Elijah, not knowing that the android saw him run out and simply remained where he was, keeping an audio processor on the news. Markus had thrown himself into the mix of androids and humans that were working to clear the building, Jericho being the main target but many floors under their offices being caught in the crossfire. The android had only gotten a few dents before he was forciblyheld back from going into the building, it becoming too dangerous to enter for anyone except professionals; his lack of injuries compared to North’s, compared to the volunteers that had been working that day….

“Markus.” He looked up, releasing the tension in his body as he caught sight of Connor. The other android looked worse off- tired, if that was possible, with his hair a mess and a mix of red and blue blood still decorating his cheek lightly. When he noticed the gaze, Connor wiped at his cheek, muttering a small apology and cleaning himself up as best as he could. “The perpetrator has been caught. Titus… confirmed her identity as his ally.”

“Willingly?” He was surprised at that. Connor shifted slightly on his feet, embarrassed.

“I was able to... some parts of him were older generations of the RK series and- it was necessary to complete the mission, for me to….” He trailed off, and Elijah let out a bark of laughter from beside Markus, shaking his head. Connor took a moment to take in the android beside Jericho’s leader, his memory storage flashing back to his own time undercover and deciding the borrowed hoodie and the change of glasses were a much more subtle outfit.

“And to think you thought you would never turn deviant, Connor.”

“Lieutenant Anderson and I are going to return to the station and finish our work,” He continued on stiffly, straightening his back, “But if either of you need anything, do not hesitate to contact me."

“Connor-“ Markus called out, stopping the detective before he could leave. Connor turned at the sound of his name, curious, and Markus smiled lightly. “Did you find out why Jericho was…?”

“An android with the DCPD was working with them. He just happened to be one of the few that knew of Kamski’s location, and had informed his ally that he was both alive, and likely at the offices.”

“So the target was Elijah, not Jericho?”

“Marie Krause’s target had been Kamski since the beginning. She simply saw it as… a beneficial circumstance, that he was assumed to be held with Jericho.”

The news had spread, the full story alongside it, of the current CEO of Cyberlife’s assassination attempt- and success, though that was not common knowledge- on the former CEO in an attempt to confirm no one would try to take her position as the leader of the dying company. She had gone mad, as the company became a shell of what it once was, no android trusting CyberLife to buy new parts from and no sales coming in now that the production of androids had been stopped. She had taken advantage of a group that were strong believers of rA9, twisting their minds to the idea that the murder of the former CEO would release their savior. rA9 would overturn Jericho, she preached to the mass of androids that chose to follow her, He would free them from the slow path to equality that the other androids had taken by going peacefully. He would lead a real revolution.

She hadn’t expected it to actually release rA9, though it was not the android prophesied.

They still had to find the… cult, Connor had admitted to Markus privately. Kamski was still at risk. But the main perpetrator had been caught, and after news got out of the intentions behind Marie’s acts, it was unlikely that the cult itself would attack on such a large scale again.

“Connor.” Markus called out, as the android began to turn away and leave. “Thank you.”

For catching the culprit, for going in to the building to save as many as he could, for taking quite a beating in the name of justice. All the reasons were left unsaid, but known between the two.

“I… was simply doing my job.” He glanced to Elijah, and Markus was unable to glance back to see what look the inventor gave that made Connor continue. From the corner of his eye he caught Lieutenant Anderson coming toward them, but the human brought a finger to his mouth, and Markus simply didn’t mention his upcoming arrival. “It was no problem, Markus. You helped us just as much.”

“Housing the man who created us isn’t exactly the same as running into a building and saving my friends.“

“But not mentioning it to his partner or the rest of the entire police department,” Connor tensed as he heard a familiar voice from behind him, and Hank put a hand down on the android’s shoulder, grinning. “makes it pretty damn equal.”

Immediately, Connor went on the defensive, stating, “You said you did not want to know where he was placed in case of-“

“Yeah, yeah, but I assumed you would have put him in a hotel or something, not with _Jericho._ ” His grin fell, replaced with anger that barely hid Hank’s main emotion- concern. For Connor, who was no doubt overworking himself; for Markus, because despite his hard exterior Hank truly did care for the leader of Jericho; and for the rest of the deviant, who had to deal with this because of Hank and Connor.

“Everyone got out safely so really, there is no need to be so-”

“The building exploded!”

“Kamski was not near the building at the time of the explosion-”

“Like that makes it any better, Connor-!“

“No one died.” He countered, weakly. Hank gave a groan, but it was with a fondness that reminded Markus briefly of Carl; every time Markus had done something particularly robotic, Carl would give a soft sigh, but there was no less love in that than in any compliment he ever gave. After a bit of a small conversation, Hank giving his best wishes to North and the others, and Markus thanking him for his and the rest of the police department’s work, the lieutenant and detective parted ways with the other two, needing to get back to their jobs. Markus let out a soft sigh as they turned a corner, returning to his previous position in watching the hospital door and trying to hear inside. If he had only been there….

“I can hear your programming overheating with guilt from here.”And there was the reason why Markus hadn’t been at Jericho, deciding to speak. He glanced toward Elijah, who stood beside him with his usual gentle smirk resting on his lips. It was an attempt at humorous comfort, Markus could recognize that, but he couldn’t bring himself to do anything except offer a small smile in return. “Your capability of keeping a calm façade is astounding, Markus.”

He couldn’t tell if the compliment was sarcastic or not.

“Genuinely,” That was the answer, then, as Elijah continued to speak. “You did the best you could, and it was absolutely remarkable no matter how little you may think.”

“I don’t think this is the best.” He gestured to their surroundings with his head, not seeing exactly where Elijah’s cryptic positivity was coming from.

“‘If you try your best, there is no failure.’ Some things are just destined to happen, and we must deal with the outcomes.”

Markus scoffed, giving the slightest exhale of a laugh. “Quoting at me will not make me feel like this is anything less than my fault.”

“Take the blame, then.” He granted. “But Jericho is looking to you to lead them out of this dark spot. Sure, the police caught the bomber but you, Markus, you have to deal with the consequences of the explosion."

And what consequences they were. The only prominent member of Jericho mostly uninjured, he had to take care of everything that had to be done until their surgeries were done. People were expecting a statement as well, no doubt, and he had to find a time to fit that in safely without pushing his luck _if_ others were still out for Kamski and Jericho’s blood.

The two lapsed into a silence that was only broken by the sound of wheels against the tile of the floor, being rushed past the two. Markus caught the briefest glimpse of a woman with a mask over her mouth; she was human if the red blood meant anything, and it took a moment to realize what the slashes on her arms meant and why she was in the hospital. He watched as Elijah’s eyes remained on the gurney, something distant in his gaze.

“Humans are such fragile machines.” Kamski murmured, looking away. “If something from the outside doesn’t kill us, something from the inside will.”

“Carl said the same thing to me, once.” Markus recalled, before turning to Elijah. He had said… us. “You still think of yourself as human? After another human did all this to try and kill you?”

“If we disconnected ourselves from other humans every time another person was evil, humanity would not have lasted a hundred years.” He countered, amused.

“But you don’t have a human body, anymore.”

To that remark Elijah questioned, “Is it the body that makes one human?”

And Markus had no reply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW I HATE THIS ENTIRE FUCKIN CHAPTER


End file.
